Tennessee football’s top five redshirt freshmen for 2022

One of the most highly touted members of Tennessee football’s 2021 recruiting class, William Parker has a lane to make a surprise impact this year.

Here’s a third highly touted member of Tennessee football’s 2021 recruiting class. You could say William Parker was the Addison Nichols of that class. Last year, Parker also played against South Alabama, where he saw six snaps, and Tennessee Tech, where he saw four snaps. Those were the only two games a year he played.

In all 10 snaps, Parker saw action at right tackle. That’s where Cade Mays played, and Mays is now gone. As a result, Parker has a great chance to see action at tackle this year since it’s the one spot on the offensive line where a position battle is taking place. His size certainly helps.

Now, it’s true that Darnell Wright, who played left tackle last year, has moved back over to right tackle. Jeremiah Crawford, Dayne Davis and Florida Gators transfer Gerald Mincey are in competition at left tackle. There’s no reason, though, to think that Parker couldn’t get in on that race, as Davis played right tackle last year too.

Furthermore, if all three players are at left tackle, Parker could be Wright’s direct backup at right tackle, which actually increases his chances to see the field. Simply put, he’ll have a lot of opportunities to make an impact, and Glen Elarbee likely has many planned ways to use him.